(CNN) - NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has canceled an appearance at a controversial Dallas-area church. The outspoken Christian quarterback was scheduled to speak at First Baptist Church on April 28.

The church is led by Robert Jeffress, who has been widely criticized for views against homosexuality, Islam and Mormonism. Tebow, announcing his decision Thursday on Twitter, said that he was canceling his appearance “due to new information that has been brought to my attention.”

Tebow’s statement appeared over a series of four tweets on the social media site.

“I will continue to use the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope and Love to all those needing a brighter day. Thank you for all of your love and support. God Bless!” he wrote to his Twitter followers.

Tebow was scheduled to speak at the 11,000-member Dallas church as part of a monthlong celebration of the megachurch’s completion of a new building campaign, a $130 million dollar project that encompasses five blocks of the downtown.

“Tim called me last night and explained to me that because of some things going on in his personal life and his career he needed to steer clear of controversy right now, but that at some other date he would like to come and speak at our church,” Jeffress told CNN by phone from Dallas. “Tim has to do what Tim thinks is best for him right now.”

The First Baptist Church of Dallas is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. Jeffress, who has been in its pulpit since 2007, is no stranger to controversy.

After introducing Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit in Washington in October 2011, Jeffress told reporters he believed Mormonism was a cult, expressing a personal position and one held by his denomination. The move was seen as a particular slight to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a lifelong Mormon.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while acknowledging sharp theological differences with the Southern Baptist Convention, bristles at the term cult and says it is inaccurate.

Jeffress has also drawn fire for his comments about homosexuality, Judiasm and Catholicism.

“This in no way is going to diminish what our church is teaching about salvation being available to all through faith in Jesus Christ,” Jeffress said.

Jeffress pointed out that Tebow is a member of the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, a fellow SBC church.

“They certainly believe what we do, that salvation is through Christ alone, and about homosexuality. Tim confirmed that to me last night, that they believe exactly what we do about homosexuality.”

Tebow and Jeffress differ dramatically in how they present their faith. Tebow in talking about his faith has used much softer language, while Jeffress has no trouble going after less popular and culturally sensitive issues in Christianity.

“I believe that homosexuality is a sin just like adultery is a sin, just like I believe premarital sex is a sin, because it’s a deviation from God’s standard,” Jeffress said.

“God’s plan for sex is that is should be between a man and a woman in a marriage relationship and any deviation from that is wrong.”

While he believes any sex outside a heterosexual marriage is wrong, he adds, “I never single out homosexuality as the only sin or the unpardonable sin. I think homosexuality, just like adultery, can be forgiven if we ask God for forgiveness.”

Jeffress said he thinks there is a genetic disposition toward homosexuality, a stance on sexual orientation taken by many theologically conservative Christians and one scorned as scientifically flawed by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Jeffress said he is sure there are gay members in his church. “We don’t ask all the gay members to stand up, but I’m sure that there are people who are gay in our church simply because of the letters I have received,” he said. “We have people who’ve committed adultery and who lie and who steal, but that doesn’t mean they’re not welcome to come to our church.”

As for comments about Mormons, Jews and Catholics, he is quick to point out that he believes “no one goes to hell in a group.”

“I’m not the one who decides who goes to heaven and hell. God does that. God has already given us the criteria for what it takes to go to heaven when you die. Jesus said in John 14:6, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the father except through me.’ When I quote that verse I like to remind people that Jesus who said that was not a Southern Baptist evangelist but a Jewish rabbi. Yet as a Jewish rabbi he said there is one way to heaven, and that is through faith in me.”

The controversy surrounding Tebow’s appearance won’t dampen the church’s plans, Jeffress said. He said Tebow, while escaping the spotlight now over his beliefs, will continue to face controversy.

“I think Tim is going to discover that no matter how hard you try to hide from controversy, if you stand for the simple truths of the Bible, like faith in Christ, necessary for salvation, and sex (being acceptable only) between a man and a woman in marriage, you can't avoid controversy. That’s something Tim needs to discover on his own. We in no way want to impugn him. He’s a great man of God who sincerely loves the Lord.”

soundoff(2,828 Responses)

Matt

Really people? Is your faith so weak that you need to find moral solidarity from an NFL star?

January 2, 2014 at 3:26 pm |

Anonymous

Tim needs a better deodorant.

October 31, 2013 at 2:39 am |

Berkeley

Tim Tebow receives inspiration from Jesus Christ (and all of his angels) just like everyone may if they so wish to bring them into their lives. Just as long as he does not allow himself to fall into a narcissistic state-of-mind that he is "above" others in receiving this inspiration, he will be just fine.

October 22, 2013 at 3:24 pm |

Westboro-atheists

...have invaded a blog on faith.
I've read half a dozen news stories on here and scrolled through the comments section (many with posts in the thousands) only to find that bigotry, intolerance and hate aren't the sole property of the alleged "religious right". From what I've read thus far no one here (of which there seem to be only a few) has any moral high ground to point an accusing finger at the other in this respect

April 7, 2013 at 5:10 pm |

Yeah

They've been here for months. I only read this blog to make fun of them. They make me ashaimed to be a skeptic.

April 14, 2013 at 1:28 pm |

blake

sam stone
A warm "fvck off" to your petty, vindictive pr1ck god for setting up a system for his own glorification

lol

March 29, 2013 at 4:04 pm |

Ron den Boer

http://thetruthaboutmormonism-creeksalmon.blogspot.com/

My very good Blog on the Mormon Faith

April 4, 2013 at 4:46 pm |

Over 40,000 denominations of insanity

Some believe the Pope is the Anti-Christ.

Some believe that celibacy is appropriate for certain people, or for certain positions. It's ridiculous. Celibacy is unnatural and will continue to cause problems for the religious institutions that employ it.

Many of the people from these same institutions advocate against abortion, but don't understand the realistic benefit of the morning after pill or even basic contraception; their unrealistic wishful thinking is causing the death of many at the hands of disease. Realistically, many abortions could be avoided if a morning-after pill were not viewed as such an evil option. Many of these same people bring children into the world at a high pace, and then would prefer that the rest of society take over and educate their children in their particular brand of religion when they don't plan well.

In the U.S. recently we learned of the head of Lutheran CMS chastising a minister of that church for participating in a joint service for the victims of the Newtown school shooting.

One sect calls homosexuality an abomination while the next one in the same denomination is already performing gay marriage.

One sect, the Westboro Baptist Church believes Americans are being killed at war because America is too kind to "fags".

One sect believes that Jesus and Satan were brothers and that Christ will return to Jerusalem AND Jackson County, Missouri.

One sect believes women to be subservient, while another sect in the same denomination promotes equality between the sexes.

Conflicted right from the very beginning, Christianity continues to splinter and create divisions and more extremism as it goes.

=================================================
Has anything improved with Christianity since 200+ years ago?

Thomas Jefferson, POTUS #3 (from Notes on the State of Virginia):

Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.

James Madison, POTUS #4, chief architect of the U.S. Constitution & the Bill of Rights (from A Memorial and Remonstrance delivered to the Virginia General Assembly in 1785):

During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution.

John Adams, POTUS #2 (in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, 09/03/1816):

I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved – the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced! With the rational respect that is due to it, knavish priests have added prostitutions of it, that fill or might fill the blackest and bloodiest pages of human history.

Ben Franklin (from a letter to The London Packet, 3 June 1772):

If we look back into history for the character of present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practised it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England, blamed persecution in the Roman church, but practised it against the Puritans: these found it wrong in the Bishops, but fell into the same practice themselves both here and in New England.

Thomas Paine (from The Age of Reason):

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.

March 19, 2013 at 1:27 pm |

Clarity = Miss Spammer

Hey! Just as there are different religions and different theologies within a religion, there are different sects of atheists: libertarian atheists, Marxist atheists, scientific determinist atheists, existentialist atheists, humanist atheists, Nietzschean atheists, etc., etc.

March 19, 2013 at 1:29 pm |

End Religion

Yes, but we know there are no rational libertarians because that is an oxymoron, right?

March 19, 2013 at 1:31 pm |

clarity

So – I'll let the readers determine who is crazy. At least I've provided some things to consider.

March 19, 2013 at 1:32 pm |

Clarity = Spam City

Over and over and over again. In every thread. Every day.

Regardless of your beliefs, you are annoying. You might as well be posting the "Starry Starry" youtube video. It actually probably is you.

March 19, 2013 at 1:34 pm |

clarity

Lol. No I have better taste in music than the Starry song. When I stop seeing posts disappear and racial posts and posts "Douglas" style, then I my "spamming" might slow. I guess mama is a little upset.

March 19, 2013 at 1:37 pm |

clarity definition

insanity – Extreme foolishness or irrationality.

Yep, she is acting crazy by posting that over and over and over....

and over.

March 19, 2013 at 1:37 pm |

Logic

I'm just as bad as Douglas, so really, I'm not that bad...

March 19, 2013 at 1:38 pm |

clarity

oh I forgot one – name stealing – that can make me just go into a frenzy of spamming – especially with some of the best atheist videos out there.

Gravity is not up for debate ! ............E = mc2..........(U–Pb).................two math formulas..........that do not lie or sin !!!..........

BY the way ...................Splat goes a fairy in the sky !...............bye bye tinker bell !

Einstein's Gravity Theory Passes Toughest Test Yet

Apr. 25, 2013 — A strange stellar pair nearly 7,000 light-years from Earth has provided physicists with a unique cosmic laboratory for studying the nature of gravity. The extremely strong gravity of a massive neutron star in orbit with a companion white dwarf star puts competing theories of gravity to a test more stringent than any available before

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130425142250.htm

Hey James Madison................religion has none it looks like.............with the comments on this blog.

The Big question is ETHICS ! does religion have any ?

The Ethics of Resurrecting Extinct Species

Apr. 8, 2013 — At some point, scientists may be able to bring back extinct animals, and perhaps early humans, raising questions of ethics and environmental disruption.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130408165955.htm

April 30, 2013 at 4:16 pm | Report abuse |

May 1, 2013 at 12:42 pm | Report abuse |

Dinosaur Egg Study Supports Evolutionary Link Between Birds and Dinosaurs: How Troodon Likely Hatched Its Young

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130418104324.htm

And NO ANGELS the pope KICKED them OFF the TEAM last year !

From Soup to Cells—the Origin of Life

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIE2aOriginoflife.shtml

the wrong path is Adam and Eve !

Human Y Chromosome Much Older Than Previously Thought

Mar. 4, 2013 — The discovery and analysis of an extremely rare African American Y chromosome pushes back the time of the most recent common ancestor for the Y chromosome lineage tree to 338,000 years ago. This time predates the age of the oldest known anatomically modern human fossils.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130305145821.htm

No god(s) needed or required to graduate from public schools in the US

Remember : Adam had to POKE himself hard with his OWN BONE to create Eve.

Apr. 23, 2013 — Ancient DNA recovered from a series of skeletons in central Germany up to 7,500 years old has been used to reconstruct the first detailed genetic history of modern Europe.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130423134037.htm

Ca-nabis and Cannabinoids (PDQ®) – National Cancer Insti-tute

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/.../page4

Mar 21, 2013 – [1,2] These plant-derived compounds may be referred to as phytocannabinoids. ... have a protective effect against the development of certain types of tumors. ... In lung cancer cell lines, CBD upregulated ICAM-1, leading to ...

Good stuff !

The fact...............the earth is to old for this nonsemse ! Time to EVOLVE !

Ancient Earth Crust Stored in Deep Mantle

Apr. 24, 2013 — Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials from the early Earth's crust. But decisive evidence for this phenomenon has proven elusive. New research from a team including Carnegie's Erik Hauri demonstrates that oceanic volcanic rocks contain samples of recycled crust dating back to the Archean era 2.5 billion years ago. Their work is published in Nature.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130424132705.htm

For what...................... ? Make sure to read what the pope said !

Where do morals come from?

By Kelly Murray, CNN

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/

Learning is fun with facts.......................... and facts work when teaching children.

Pope praises science, but insists God created world updated Thur October 28, 2010
Stephen Hawking is wrong, Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday – God did create the universe. The pope didn't actually mention the world-famous scientist, who argues in a book published last month that the laws of physics show there is no need for a supreme... \

Heaven is 'a fairy story,' scientist Stephen Hawking says updated Tue May 17, 2011
By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor The concept of heaven or any kind of afterlife is a "fairy story," famed British scientist Stephen Hawking said in a newspaper interview this week. "I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when...

NASA: Three planets found are some of best candidates so far for habitable worlds outside our solar system.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/planet-discovery/index.html

NASA: Mars could have supported life

Star Dust we are

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWdU_px9ApE&w=640&h=390]

Holy Hallucinations 35

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XTCRdC8Dlo&w=640&h=390]

The ORIGIN story is bullsh-it...............so is the bible............... nasty !

From Soup to Cells—the Origin of Life

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIE2aOriginoflife.shtml

Scientists have unearthed the first direct signs of cheesemaking, at a site in Poland that dates back 7,500 years.

Human Evolution

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIE2cHumanevo.shtml

BBC. Planet of the Apemen. Battle for Earth 1. Ho-mo Erectus

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUliLKSJ4bQ&w=640&h=390]

BACKFILL on E =mc2.....

Einstein letter, set for auction, shows scientist challenging idea of God, being 'chosen'

By Jessica Ravitz, CNN

Decades before atheist scientist and author Richard Dawkins called God a "delusion," one world-renowned physicist – Albert Einstein – was weighing in on faith matters with his own strong words.

“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends,” Einstein wrote in German in a 1954 letter that will be auctioned on eBay later this month. "No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”

The fact...............the earth is to old ...........time to EVOLVE !.

Ancient Earth Crust Stored in Deep Mantle

Apr. 24, 2013 — Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials from the early Earth's crust. But decisive evidence for this phenomenon has proven elusive. New research from a team including Carnegie's Erik Hauri demonstrates that oceanic volcanic rocks contain samples of recycled crust dating back to the Archean era 2.5 billion years ago. Their work is published in Nature.

Detailed satellite images reveal the web of connections that sustain life on Earth. Aired February 13, 2013 on PBS

Program Description

"Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. Produced in extensive consultation with NASA scientists, NOVA takes data from earth-observing satellites and transforms it into dazzling visual sequences, each one exposing the intricate and surprising web of forces that sustains life on earth. Viewers witness how dust blown from the Sahara fertilizes the Amazon; how a vast submarine "waterfall" off Antarctica helps drive ocean currents around the world; and how the sun's heating up of the southern Atlantic gives birth to a colossally powerful hurricane. From the microscopic world of water molecules vaporizing over the ocean to the magnetic field that is bigger than Earth itself, the show reveals the astonishing beauty and complexity of our dynamic planet.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/earth-from-space.html

February 16, 2013 at 7:18 am | Report abuse |

Peace

May 5, 2013 at 11:39 am |

Ny Nick

-You cannot serve 2 masters. You cant serve God and money.
-He who loves his life shall lose it. He who hates his life shall find it.
-Let a man deny himself and BEAR his CROSS.
-To the bad servant, the cares and riches of this world choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Tim Tebow, you have alot to learn.

March 19, 2013 at 10:56 am |

Bob

Why would a "god" need anyone to "serve" him? Or need anything else at all, for that matter?

Ask the questions. Break the chains. Join the movement.
Be free of Christianity and other superstitions.
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/

March 19, 2013 at 3:48 pm |

sam stone

i don't hate people who believe in god. i have several people very close to me who do.

i oppose those who use their beliefs to deny others their civil rights
i ridicule those who blather proxy threats
i question those who purport to know then mind of god

March 19, 2013 at 6:44 am |

Nae

If you don't want to beleive in God, that is your decision, but don't hate us because we do. We don't tell you that you have to beleive, therefore you shouldn't put people down just because they do. Life is a gift, not a given right.

March 19, 2013 at 2:36 am |

sam stone

Why do you feel we hate you?

March 19, 2013 at 8:00 am |

Saraswati

Nae,

I'm not sure who you are talking to so perhaps you are not addressing people of my position. However, to explain myself I will say I don't put anyone down for believing as long as their belief system is not harmful. I know many religious folk... Christians, Buddhists, Hindus...who fully believe in modern psychology and other sciences and just have added a few extra premises to that. If it makes them happy and doesn't hurt anyone I have no issues with it. If you tell me you accept modern science but also had a vision you trust, who am I to say you didn't? I might argue against your desire to vote for millions in funding to study these visions, but that's it.

But I do have issues when people have beliefs that are harmful and contrary to science. People who want to rely on faith healing, oppose birth control, or work to ban gay marriage. These aren't just personal acts but real actions that impact other people. The faulty beliefs themselves influence voting patterns with real outcomes. At that point it is well beyond live and let live.

March 19, 2013 at 8:07 am |

Third Eagle of the Apocalypse

You’re an adult that believes in magic… you deserve to be ridiculed.

March 19, 2013 at 12:20 pm |

james

Good for you Tebow !!! Damn, a football player with Christian values that doesn't prowl around at night in all the Strip Bars. Wonders will never cease.–

March 18, 2013 at 11:16 pm |

Cat. Dave Button

ASK The Pittsburg Steelers IF Tebow can Throw the Ball Down-Field...You don;t get Tackled UNLESS you are
carrying the Ball. AND Tim Tebow is Carrying the Ball for a Moral Standard..

March 18, 2013 at 5:19 pm |

sam stone

hopefully he is better at carrying the ball for a moral standard than he is at being a professional quarterback

March 19, 2013 at 6:45 am |

Cat. Dave Button

ASK The Pittisburg Steelers IF Tebow can Throw the Football down-field! You do NOT get Tackled UNLESS
you are carrying the Ball AND is Carrying the all for a Moral Standard.

March 18, 2013 at 5:17 pm |

Only The Truth

Extremely disappointed that Tim would not take a stand for Christ. After all The pastor of FBC-Dallas sermons come from the BIBLE. What's more important Tim, Money & popularity, or your stand for who you proclaim to be your savior?

March 13, 2013 at 2:23 pm |

sam stone

Lots of sermons come from THE BIBLE. Perhaps Tebow doesn't want to be associated with such a hateful punk.

March 14, 2013 at 9:03 am |

bwslc

American Christianity has become a hate group.

March 18, 2013 at 2:22 pm |

gwats

This religious 'cover' he keeps running for can't take a away from the fact that he's a lousy QB.

Mar. 4, 2013 — The discovery and analysis of an extremely rare African American Y chromosome pushes back the time of the most recent common ancestor for the Y chromosome lineage tree to 338,000 years ago. This time predates the age of the oldest known anatomically modern human fossils.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130305145821.htm

No god(s) needed or required to graduate from public schools in the US

Remember : Adam had to POKE himself hard with his OWN BONE to create Eve.

Peace

March 10, 2013 at 9:44 am |

Justin

Those are the words of the Apostle Paul in a letter to a church. Learn some facts.

March 11, 2013 at 3:15 am |

ya

Justin,

Yep, we are well aware that Paul of Tarsus was just a man; and his letters and preachings were just that of a man too.

March 11, 2013 at 3:20 am |

Holy Hallucinations 37

FACTS enjoy creationists

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z890j0VB0wQ&w=640&h=390]

March 17, 2013 at 8:07 am |

MUST SEE Creatard Pwnage Par Excellence

MUST SEE Creatard Pwnage Par Excellence

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QIrfxj02pQ&w=640&h=390]

March 19, 2013 at 10:27 am |

Charlie

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right." –
- Martin Luther King Jr

March 9, 2013 at 5:53 pm |

Jacob

“I’m not the one who decides who goes to heaven and hell. God does that. God has already given us the criteria for what it takes to go to heaven when you die. Jesus said in John 14:6, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the father except through me.’

Well said!!

March 8, 2013 at 9:23 pm |

Science

To Jacob and creationists....... are you the generated ghost this new device has created ?

Engineering 'Ghost' Objects: Breakthrough in Scattering Illusion

Feb. 19, 2013 — A team at the NUS Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering led by Dr Qiu Cheng-Wei has come out with an optical device to "engineer" ghosts.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219090643.htm

Peace

March 9, 2013 at 7:35 am |

sam stone

you take the word of man and attribute it to god. how foolish

March 20, 2013 at 6:07 am |

Laurie in Spokane

Here we go again. Such a stupid debate on the reality or not of a god. Any god. Something that has been created by man for the benefit of man. I sure wish that god gene had never gotten hold in humans. all the wars and agony over religions.

March 7, 2013 at 4:07 pm |

Scott

Evan, there is nothing to reconcile. What you have are two different teachings, from two different sources. So called "science" today is being held hostage to angostics and atheists who are hostile towards God and His teachings. Then you have the teachings of God. You decide whom you should believe. The teachings of men or the teachings of God. I will go with the One who was there and revealed it to us by His servants, men of God, who were moved by the Spirit of God to write it.

March 5, 2013 at 10:15 pm |

Felix Sinclair

Scott, the next time you're seriously ill, make sure you avoid medical "science" and go right to your spiritual leader instead.

March 6, 2013 at 11:17 am |

EnjaySea

I'm not hostile towards "God", because I don't believe that this mythical creature exists. I am very hostile however to people making up fantasy characters then burning people alive who don't believe in them.

So I suppose it's a certain type of "Man" that I'm actually hostile to.

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.